2021-22 NBA Season Discussion

[jalengreen]

That was an insane shot by butler followed by a run of 4 straight 3s by both teams lol that was fun

[Fadeaway_J]

Not that it isn't an entertaining game, but why the hell is it taking so long? It's going to be three hours at this rate.

[jalengreen]

Not that it isn't an entertaining game, but why the hell is it taking so long? It's going to be three hours at this rate.

feels like a ton of fouls. celtics were in the bonus like 3 minutes into the quarter. butler has 16 FTs

[Fadeaway_J]

Tobias Harris over this guy huh?

[jalengreen]

pritchard's a liability on defense when butler can attack him like this. they're missin smart

[yoyoboy]

Bubble Butler was no fluke!

[sp6r=underrated]

I know my opinion that there shouldn't be a draft makes me a total weirdo but the result of the lottery show why I feel that way.

2 completely clueless franchises (Magic/Kings) and 2 franchises that intentionally lost games, no different than Donaghy getting the other top 4 spots. just gross

[sp6r=underrated]

Miami moves to 9-3 in the playoffs, average MOV +9.75. Fair to say they are overachieving expectations

[migya]

Butler is near Jordan these playoffs.

[GSP]

Jimmy has turned into Miami Bron these payoffs WTFFFFFFF

[MartinToVaught]

Jimmy is stupidly locked in!

[BIGJ1ER]

I know my opinion that there shouldn't be a draft makes me a total weirdo but the result of the lottery show why I feel that way.

2 completely clueless franchises (Magic/Kings) and 2 franchises that intentionally lost games, no different than Donaghy getting the other top 4 spots. just gross

TBF I agree with you on the fact that I cringe when I see some franchises get a high draft pick, some teams have no idea how to develop talent or build a roster, and you just know young talent will go to rot there (Kings come to mind).

That's why against the grain, I was actually happy to see a well run org like GS get the second pick in 2020. Would rather see what they could do with a high pick than someone like NYK or SAC (Us poor knicks have had zero lottery luck for years though - I think RJ over Darius Garland will end up haunting us too).

[jalengreen]

Read on Twitter

[MartinToVaught]

I know my opinion that there shouldn't be a draft makes me a total weirdo but the result of the lottery show why I feel that way.

2 completely clueless franchises (Magic/Kings) and 2 franchises that intentionally lost games, no different than Donaghy getting the other top 4 spots. just gross

TBF I agree with you on the fact that I cringe when I see some franchises get a high draft pick, some teams have no idea how to develop talent or build a roster, and you just know young talent will go to rot there (Kings come to mind).

That's why against the grain, I was actually happy to see a well run org like GS get the second pick in 2020. Would rather see what they could do with a high pick than someone like NYK or SAC (Us poor knicks have had zero lottery luck for years though - I think RJ over Darius Garland will end up haunting us too).

It's a double-edged sword, honestly. For decades, the Clippers were one of those teams who everyone shook their head at and expected to waste the talent. What turned everything around was simply winning the lottery in the right year. The same can be said for the Warriors, and that same 2009 draft turned everything around for them too.

The bottom line is that you need top talent to become one of those "well-run orgs," and the draft is literally the only way to do it for 90% of the league, either by drafting it themselves or developing enough assets to trade for it. So there has to be a draft. Personally, I say scrap the lottery and just go back to doing it like the NFL. There will always be tanking and trying to stop it is a losing battle. There should be less roadblocks in the way of helping teams get better, not more.

Ironically, the Warriors seem to have squandered that #2 pick. So even being a well-run organization isn't always enough.

[eminence]

Celtics obviously missing Smart a lot, but that run to start the 3rd was more about not having somebody who could calm the offense.

I was hoping White could kind of do that for them, but he was bad tonight. They still could use a more settled PG, though they may have enough even without a move for such a player.

[BIGJ1ER]

I know my opinion that there shouldn't be a draft makes me a total weirdo but the result of the lottery show why I feel that way.

2 completely clueless franchises (Magic/Kings) and 2 franchises that intentionally lost games, no different than Donaghy getting the other top 4 spots. just gross

TBF I agree with you on the fact that I cringe when I see some franchises get a high draft pick, some teams have no idea how to develop talent or build a roster, and you just know young talent will go to rot there (Kings come to mind).

That's why against the grain, I was actually happy to see a well run org like GS get the second pick in 2020. Would rather see what they could do with a high pick than someone like NYK or SAC (Us poor knicks have had zero lottery luck for years though - I think RJ over Darius Garland will end up haunting us too).

It's a double-edged sword, honestly. For decades, the Clippers were one of those teams who everyone shook their head at and expected to waste the talent. What turned everything around was simply winning the lottery in the right year. The same can be said for the Warriors, and that same 2009 draft turned everything around for them too.

The bottom line is that you need top talent to become one of those "well-run orgs," and the draft is literally the only way to do it for 90% of the league, either by drafting it themselves or developing enough assets to trade for it. So there has to be a draft. Personally, I say scrap the lottery and just go back to doing it like the NFL. There will always be tanking and trying to stop it is a losing battle. There should be less roadblocks in the way of helping teams get better, not more.

Ironically, the Warriors seem to have squandered that #2 pick. So even being a well-run organization isn't always enough.

You're right, and I am aware that my thinking in this area is heavily flawed.

Even a team like the kings has had Fox and Haliburton in recent years turn out alright, and it looks like Davion will be a rotational piece himself.

Everything you said is correct, and the Warriors thing has been interesting, since I don't think they had an ideal developmental environment in place for Wiseman last season, and gave him too long of a leash too early.

I think player development is an underrated aspect of the sport. Look at someone like Jaden McDaniels, who was really given no leash to develop any of his on ball reps this season, even when he has shown brief flashes of a pull up middie, or JJJ who again, with Ja playing, hasn't really been given an opportunity to develop his self creation game enough for my liking, and we've seen when Ja is out, that his scoring and efficiency (which shouldn't be happening together) have spiked massively. It's difficult to develop multiple young pieces together, and it's difficult to balance winning and development at the same time (Ask the 2022 Warriors).

* I really think the Ja and JJJ part is going to be important moving forward, as I don't think Ja for all his talents and play this year has really worked out how to optimally get all his pieces in the best position to succeed at all times, and they're going to need to unlock all of JJJ's potential to really contend (I'm super high on JJJ).

[falcolombardi]

between boston and miami it is starting to feel like the top bubble teams really got ficked over by the short off season for 2021

it is the only thingh (injuries in the case of denver and lakers) that explains how they fell off so hars in 2021 only to bounce back in 2022

[falcolombardi]

The Celtics already having 42 paint points says alot about the different caliber of rim protection between Miami and Milwaukee (along with defensive schemes tbf).

If they're going to able to attack the paint that relentlessly, then things are going to be tough for Miami.

Not sure why the Heat aren't playing Robinson, he's not amazing defensively but they need help offensively, and he was playable against Boston a few years ago.

Also Herro seemingly matching up well against Boston (if the trend from the 2020 series continues) is interesting, on paper you'd think Boston would do a really good job against him.

I was shocked in the GB thread about Milwaukee people were talking about the Bucks defense struggling. It goes to show for a lot of fans the issue is always money spent on defense is wasted and better on offense.

Milwaukee RS DRTG: 111.8
Boston RS ORTG: 114.4
Boston Expected ORTG: 113.1


Boston ORTG vs Milwaukee: 109.8

THIS

i and 70's fan were fighting over this the game 7 day, everyone talking about bucks defense being exposed when it was the only reason theu went up 3-2 in the first plave

[falcolombardi]

I know my opinion that there shouldn't be a draft makes me a total weirdo but the result of the lottery show why I feel that way.

2 completely clueless franchises (Magic/Kings) and 2 franchises that intentionally lost games, no different than Donaghy getting the other top 4 spots. just gross

man what do you have against poor okc lol (just kidding)

is a super small market team who average over 50 wins for a decade then finally tanked for 2 years like every other team

also we got a good track record with developing prospects (durant harden, west ibaka, shai, dort, hopefully giddey soon)

[jalengreen]

the "well-run" franchises don't need top lottery picks. just look at teams like the heat and raptors. so give them to the teams that do need them. makes sense as a competitive balancer to me.